The Accidental Mew
by Rogue Angel Serenity
Summary: After the Deep Blue incident,life has returned to normal for the girls, but when mutant creatures start plaguing the city of Tokyo the girls are called on once again,and Ryou is forced to revisit his tragic past.IchigoxRyou.some language,rating may go up
1. Chapter 1

* * *

Disclaimer: Tokyo Mew Mew doesn't belong to me.

AN; most names, places etc I've used the Japanese names, except for one or two small things, also I didn't put in any, you know, 'kun' and 'san' and so and such, so forgive me for not putting them in:)

Also, this is my first fan fiction that I've ever uploaded, so please review and tell me what you think (but please be nice, lol:) )

* * *

Ichigo reached out blindly to switch her computer on whilst stifling a huge yawn that made her eyes water slightly. Blinking a few times to clear the moisture there and to focus her sight properly her pc flared to life, the miniature fan that kept her hard drive cool, although near silent was loud to her sensitive ears. Her cat abilities had all but disappeared after the Deep Blue incident. She, along with the others could no longer transform, but they had all found they retained some traits and quirks of their animal counterparts. Not any appendages though, thankfully. Their pink tattoo like marks still remained, faded and dull.

She brushed away the dry sand from her eyes with her knuckles before she rose tiredly to her feet and dragged herself to her bathroom for a quick shower. She reached into the shower to flip the tap towards her and waited for the water to heat up. Soon hot steam drifted towards her in ghostly tendrils and she undressed hurriedly before climbing in.

*

She reached out to shut the tap and the flow of hot water ceased immediately. Ichigo brought her delicate hands up to face to brush away the wet hair that clung to her face before pulling down the fluffy towel that hung over the shower door to wrap around her petite body. She stepped out the shower onto a pale pink mat and grabbed a matching hand towel with a strawberry embroidered pattern on the corners to wrap around her wet hair. She crossed the hall to her room and shut the door behind her before leaning over her chair to check her email and to log onto msn on her pc.

She turned away from the large, beautifully black, flat screen to her closet and started pulling out clothes for the day; some underwear, a pair of dark skinny jeans with dark pink stitching and a black tank top. She towelled off most of the moisture from her hair and combed out any tangles and knots that might have formed from sleep and being up in a towel. Walking leisurely back to her bathroom in her underwear, Ichigo hung the damp towels over the metal rails to dry and as she was shaking her long, strawberry coloured hair out so it could hang and dry better she heard a message come through with a soft beep. She sat down on her comfy office chair and spun round to face her screen looking to see from whom the message came. She sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

'Masaya: Hey Ichigo :) '

She hesitated for a moment before replying,

"Hey Masaya, How've you been keeping?"

The reply came in with another beep,

"I've been good thanks, England is freezing though! How are you doing? How're things back home?"

"I'm doing very well thanks. Things are good, it's getting warmer everyday and I don't have to be at the cafe so much, which really helps me when it comes to studying. Speaking of which, how are your studies of Red Data Animals going?"

His reply came through after a few moments' pause,

'Glad to hear things are going well. It's great! I'm really enjoying it, it's a lot of hard work but it's worth it:) If you don't have to rush off anywhere do you want to have a video call?'

She hurriedly typed in her reply,

"I'd love to, but I can't, I'm already running late....again. Gotta run! Chat soon. X"

She read her reply three times before deleting the 'x' and hitting the send button. Ichigo hurriedly logged off without waiting for his reply, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. These last few months she had been growing a bit distant, and even slightly irate towards Masaya, and Ichigo wasn't able to explain why, even to herself. Once or twice Ichigo had vaguely wondered if Ryou's attitude towards Massaya where rubbing off on her. But that still wouldn't explain it, they never discussed Massaya, Ichigo never spoke of him, except to the girls when they asked, and Ryou certainly didn't bring him up. She wasn't ever rude or anything when she spoke to Massaya, but sometimes the things he did or said seemed to irritate her when they had never fazed her before. Not that they were major issues either, just his mannerisms, and the strange thing was, it was the things Ichigo had once been drawn to and loved about him. Ichigo knew she was probably nit picking, but she didn't care anymore.

She shrugged it off and turned her attention to other matters. She pulled her clothes on before reaching out for her hair dryer out so she could rid her long red hair of the last bits of moisture. Once her hair was dry she brushed it back and let her bangs fall into place over her forehead. She had long since grown out of wearing her hair in pigtails and it was too long in any case, reaching well past her shoulders. She applied a slight amount of make-up, consisting only of thin line of black eyeliner and mascara, having near flawless skin had always allowed her to never need foundation of any sort.

Lastly she pulled her pink, ankle high Converse out her closet, switched her pc off and headed downstairs for some toast. She dropped her shoes next to her shoulder bag by the door just before setting down to eat.

She took her time with her breakfast, not wanting to eat too fast. As she was finishing up she glanced at her mobile and jumped when she saw the time, 08:13. Her lectures started in little over forty five minutes and unless she kicked it into high gear she would miss the train. She shovelled the last bit of toast into her mouth as she leapt out her chair and bolted upstairs to brush teeth and grab her necklace and jacket.

The silver necklace she had grabbed was probably one her most loved possessions. It was something that had been given to her little over a year ago on her eighteenth birthday by Ryou.

She had been surprised to say the least when he shoved the small pink box in her hands. Receiving a present from Ryou was the last thing she had expected. But if that was a shock, what lay inside was enough to leave her speechless.

A delicate silver chain lay on a square of foam and when she pulled it carefully out, she gasped, the silver chain, she saw, was not the main gift, but the silver charm that hung from it was. It was the elegant silhouette of a tall cat sitting, its magnificent head; turned to the side a large, shocking pink, cushion cut diamond for its eye. Its long tail curved and ended in a graceful arch above its head. On the back engraved with the simple words, 'For Ichigo'.

Ichigo was stunned by, but only for a few moments before she reached up to wrap her arms around the tall blonde's neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. Whispering her thanks in his ear as she held him tight Ichigo was slightly surprised when she felt his arms encircle her waist as he returned the display of affection, even holding her firmly to him. But in a heartbeat they pulled away, ending the brief moment.

Since then she had hardly taken it off, save when she slept and showered. Knowing her luck, Ichigo knew she'd end up either strangling herself in her sleep by accident, or the clasp breaking the shower, so to be safe, she took it off every night before showering and put it on each morning, normally straight after.

She raced down the stairs to grab her black shoulder bag decorated with a large; dark strawberry in one corner and pulled on her shoes and laced them up just before stepping onto the porch and locking up behind her. She shoved her keys into her bag and set off at a fast walk to the train station.

She checked her mobile every few moments on her way to the station to reassure herself she still had sufficient time to get to college. She smiled to herself a slight bounce in her step, proud and happy with herself that she was making an even greater effort to be more punctual with things lately. She was just leaving the residential area of her neighbourhood when an uneasy itch right between her shoulder blades made her look over her shoulder behind her. There was nothing unusual that Ichigo could see and she shook it off, but was unable to rid the awful feeling she had, it gave her goose bumps and made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. Ichigo hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder and quickened her pace.

The feeling came back and she spun around to try and see what was behind her that made her feel as if she were being followed. She breathed a sigh of relief at what she saw, before laughing at how worried she had been. Of all things to be scared at, it was only a cat for heaven's sake!

A greyish brown cat with large, black spots that in some places extended to bands running longitudinally down its body sat on the sidewalk directly behind her, its large and bright amber eyes staring unblinkingly straight at her. That wasn't unusual, ever since being infused with wild cat DNA; cats had always been drawn to her. She raised a hand in a small wave of acknowledgement and farewell before turning and continuing on her way.

A few moments later a flicker of movement caught her eye and Ichigo glanced down to find the same cat padding quietly along beside her. She smiled down at the feline, glad of her company. It was then that Ichigo noticed the cats' unusually short tail. It was at that moment when several things suddenly happened simultaneously; a loud crash accompanied by a slight tremor of the earth and the same uncomfortable itch between her shoulder blades and the weight of the cat as it leapt into her arms in fright. Ichigo spun around to catch a glimpse at a large snow white frog, or something that vaguely resembled a frog, through the trees. Or rather, Ichigo saw it over the trees as the things thick head stood considerably higher than any of the trees around it, and the realisation that the cat she now had cradled in her arms was no ordinary cat.

Ichigo held the cat out in front of her and found the cat seemed to be almost smiling up at her, her tail twitched slightly and without warning the cat leapt at Ichigo's chest, but instead of the impact Ichigo was expecting, all she felt was a warm, pink glow envelope both of them as they merged into one being.

Her clothes melted away to be replaced by a strapless, tight fitting pink dress that flared out at the hips into a short balloon skirt and was edged at the top in a darker pink, matching arm bands on her upper arms, a garter and a choker all pink edged in a deeper shade and a delicate pendant dangling off the choker. Dark pink knee high boots replaced her sneakers, and her black ears and tail, complete with gold bell and red ribbon appeared. Her hair and eyes both turned a bright shade of pink and dark pink gloves now covered her delicate hands.

Instincts, born from the many months of battling other kirema anima's just a few short years ago, kicked in immediately and without a moment's hesitation Ichigo took off towards the mutated creature. Vaulting over the high fence that ran around the small conservation area with ease, she sprinted to the creature that turned its attention to her for only a moment, its large purple eyes flickered to her then back to uprooting trees.

It appeared to be covered in very course looking, snow white fur and bordered on being nearly three storeys high with several large, pale purple eyes that contained no pupil. It opened its massive jaws revealing multiple rows of needle sharp teeth, each roughly the length of a ruler, and thicker than her wrist. Another crash and tremor revealed that the creature was shooting out a large, electric blue tongue to latch around trees and uprooting them to eat.

"Hey!"

The frog twitched, watching Ichigo out of the corner of its many eyes, "Yes, I'm talking to you, you disgusting toad! I don't have the time for this, so turn around and face me so I can send you back to whatever hellhole your ugly ass crawled out of."

The mutant creature grunted as a response and turning its massive body towards her, shot its tongue at her, Ichigo leapt out of its path as quickly as she could manage, but its tongue still managed to graze her left arm, just below her shoulder, with the sharp hairs that coated it, to latch onto an ancient looking oak behind her.

"Fuck!" Ichigo nearly doubled over in agony as her arm seared with white hot pain and glancing down, she gasped. The wound appeared to fester before her eyes as the skin around it was eaten away as if by acid.

Gritting her teeth in pain, Ichigo muttered darkly to herself, "Oh, you'll pay for that,", she crouched down on all fours, raising her back legs, like an athlete about to begin a race, she glanced up at the thing who wasn't paying her mind, and surged forward like a cat would attack its prey. When she'd gathered enough speed in the short distance she had, Ichigo leapt towards its large head, and before it could react she landed a well placed kick on the side of its head, sending it staggering to the side from the impact; its tongue released the oak immediately, leaving a black charred mark on the trunk.

Whilst the thing was still recovering from its blow to the head, Ichigo summoned her heart shaped weapon, although she was loath to take attack anything that couldn't defend itself, she knew that the kirema, if that's what it was, would not extend the same courtesy to her, had their positions been reversed.

And the god damn thing had caused her an injury that would probably leave an unsightly scar. Leaping into the air once more she aimed her attack at the vile creatures face, "Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

She landed lightly on her feet and clutched her left arm just below the wound with her right hand as pain once more lanced through her. Tears started to gather in her pink eyes, but she blinked them furiously away and instead watched as the white fur on the frog's body where the attack had struck was left slightly singed and the creature, having recovered from both attacks, turned its full attention to Ichigo for the first time.

"Oh crap."

It bared its many rows of teeth at her and let out a deep, menacing growl that shook the leaves on trees and Ichigo felt her chest reverberate with the bass. It reared its ugly head getting ready to either shoot out its tongue to try and eat her or heavens knew what else it could or would do.

But Ichigo was not planning on finding out which it was intending to try, gritting her teeth at the pain she knew was coming she called out, "Strawberry Bell, Version up!" Pale yellow wings appeared on her weapon as she aimed her upgraded Bell at the mutant, 'Ribbon, Strawberry, Check, Surprise!'

The thing opened its mouth dumbly as it was struck in a blinding flash of pinkish colour, when the light had dissipated the creature had already begun to evaporate, leaving no evidence of its existence behind apart from the char mark on the tree.

Ichigo made to lean over to rest her hands on her knees, before stopping and straightening up instead, her lungs would work better if she stood tall. But even so, she was sorely tempted to lean over and catch her breath.

Ichigo's chest rose and fell rapidly, breathing as if she'd been running a marathon, "God, I'm really out of shape with kicking ass." She said softly to herself in between her heavy breaths. Once she had her breath back moved gingerly anticipating pain, but it didn't come, so she made her way over to inspect where the thing had been standing, expecting to find a very bewildered frog and perhaps the remnant of a kirema anima infuser. But nothing remained, only flattened grass. She turned and made her way to the ancient tree to inspect the horrible burn that remained on its bark. The wound looked as her arm had, the wood eaten away as if by acid revealing the pale wood on the inside, but the poison or venom's effect was rapidly slowing down. She put a gloved hand out to the old tree, resting her hand against it. The wood felt alive beneath her fingers, her acute senses picking up on very subtle movement within the tree itself. She smiled to herself, the ancient tree would live, it was oak and they were sturdy and tough, able to survive the harshest of elements living to be hundreds of years old, whilst others grew old and died, but the bark on this particular tree would probably always be scarred. An eternal reminder of what had happened to it.

"Shit," Ichigo muttered to herself, leaning heavily on the tree as pain lanced through her arm originating where she'd been hurt, she glanced down at her arm, "God that hurts." Where she'd been scratched was black as night, with small, unhealthy looking bubbles around the edges. Although it had stopped eating away at the skin around it, it was now double, if not more the size it was. And the pain was creeping back, it burned painfully and she dared not touch it. She shuddered to think what she would look like had she been she reacted half a second later, her whole arm, if she was lucky, if not more would be in this state, and Ichigo didn't doubt that she most likely would be paralysed with pain.

She looked around to check if there was anyone in the nearby vicinity, but the street was deserted, before she turned tail and ran as fast as she could, her body held low to the ground to allow her to move with more speed, to the only person that would know how to help.

Nearly 20 minutes later her feet had found the stairs leading up the back entrance of the petite cafe she used to spend every waking hour of every day at. Ichigo glanced round to make sure no one was watching as she reached out with her right had to try the door, praying silently.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief as it clicked lightly as she turned the handle and stumbled inside, the door slamming loudly shut behind her as she collapsed back against it and slid to the floor, breathing heavily as her chest burning. She had to have run nearly four miles flat out, with her arm growing more painful and swollen by the minute, if she moved it in the slightest now it would just about bring her to tears of agony.

She heard footfalls on the stairs; no doubt the slamming door had attracted someone's attention, "Ryou!" Ichigo called out as loudly as her burning lungs allowed her. The footsteps increased their speed and as Ryou's form appeared in the kitchen he saw the pink haired cat girl lying in a heap just as a pink glow wrapped around her allowing her Mew outfit to melt away leaving her in her normal clothes. "Ichigo!"

She gave him a small smile, blinking up at him, trying to focus her eyes, "Ryou, my powers...they're back."

* * *

Well that's it for the first chapter :)

Please r&r, thanks a mil!

-Serenity


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: we all know Tokyo Mew Mew doesn't belong to me :)

Howdy all! Well here's the second chapter for you

* * *

"Ryou, my powers...They're back." She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her and she flinched slightly, her teeth grinding together, "I was attacked...my arm..." she struggled to say more but he stopped her, "Shh, it's alright, I've got you." He said softly as he scooped her up in his arms, careful to avoiding touching her injured arm, which had by now turned the faintest shade of blue, she was still breathing hard, her lungs on fire and the air searing her throat.

Taking her downstairs into his lab, Ryou laid Ichigo down on the examination table. "It's cold." She muttered as her thickly lashed brown eyes fluttered open and took in the blurred surroundings and the familiar form of Ryou whose back was currently turned as he worked at another table. Closing her eyes, Ichigo sighed, knowing she was safe, and needn't worry any longer. Ryou would fix it, make it right again. He always did.

Her heavy breathing finally began to slow, which was good, her chest was moving at considerably slower pace, rising and falling steadily.

Ichigo felt a hand gently stroking her forehead and her eyes shot open to find Ryou standing beside her, "Ichigo," he said quietly, but firmly, "you must listen very carefully to me, I'm going to draw some of your blood and then I'm going to remove some of the damaged skin. It's going to hurt, but I have to. I need to know what it is so that I can fix it. Do you understand?"

Ichigo nodded once to him and he grasped her right hand for a moment and gave it a gentle squeeze, "That's my girl."

He moved away, back to his table where he had assembled all he would need, pulling on those awful latex gloves Ryou glanced over to where she lay before picking up the syringe, with which he had used the smallest possible needle, he knew how much she hated needles and this would be the least painful, and a small ball of cotton wool which he had already poured cleaning alcohol on. He moved back to where Ichigo lay, she was motionless except for the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest. Ryou bent down and gently tied an elasticized band around her upper right it arm and tightened to better expose a vein. He then cleaned a small patch in the crook of her arm; and she shivered a bit as the cold cotton wool moved over her skin.

"You ready?" he asked softly.

She inhaled deeply, squeezing her eyes tightly shut before she opened them as she exhaled her body relaxing as she looked determinedly at him before nodding once.

Locating a vein Ryou pushed the needle into her arm as gentle as he could and watched as her body become rigid, "Shh Ichigo," he soothed, "relax, and it won't hurt so much", tossing the cotton wool to the floor he gently took her right hand in his left as he skilfully, with one hand, began to pull the back the syringe out ever so slowly, causing it to fill with blood. Her body relaxed slightly, but every now and then Ichigo tensed, her hand clenching around his, sometimes rather painfully too. But he didn't care, he continued to stroke her hand and try to sooth her by talking to her.

Eventually when he had all the blood he needed to run several tests, he released her hand and carefully withdrew the needle from her arm, keeping pressure with his finger he reached across to his desk to grab another piece of cotton wool and a plaster to cover the spot where he drew blood.

Ryou strode to his desk and carefully transferred the blood into a narrow vial before sealing it and placed it on a stand. He returned to Ichigo's side with a delicate, yet sharp, pair of tweezers, a miniature vial, and a deadly looking scalpel, leaning down close to inspect the nasty scab, he was shocked to find it flaking slightly, tiny bits had already pulled off and lay on the metal surface of the table. Her arm no longer had the bluish tint and Ichigo was flexing her fingers slightly. "I'm going to work on your cut now, Ichigo," he said gently, "try not to move."

"But it's itching." She muttered.

Ryou said nothing, but his mind was racing, usually when the skin around a scab began to become irritated and itched meant the skin was healing. He couldn't afford to say for sure that it was reason; it might mean Ichigo was reacting to whatever toxins entered her body and caused the wound to burn like that.

Careful he did not poke her injury with the sharp tweezers he selected a piece that was peeling off and gently closed the tweezers on the piece of skin and lightly pulled it towards him. Lifting easily, the piece of blackened skin was nearly 5mm across and was not translucent as normal skin was, but this was solid, and thick for a piece of skin. She shifted slightly, "I'm almost done, Ichigo." he whispered as he dropped it into his vial before reaching for another piece. In a few moments he was done, his samples sealed off and laid out on his desk. Ryou leant over Ichigo, his hand stoking her head once more as he spoke to her, "I'm going upstairs for just a moment, and I'll be back before you know it."

Her eyes flew open and Ichigo tried to sit upright but was prevented from doing so when Ryou's hands firmly laid her down again, "Really, don't you think you should be resting?" he asked her as she struggled to sit up.

"It's weird, I'm feeling fine," Ichigo replied, laying back down, giving up on trying to get up, not that she would ever admit it out loud, holding a hand to her head that was aching slightly, "apart from my head that buzzing like I'm really hung over or something."

"But your arm," he started, glancing down at her wound, it looked better than it did when he first looked at it, the charred bits had nearly all peeled off, leaving patches where the cut looked to be healing normally.

"It's still burning a bit, but not nearly as bad as before, I can live with this." she said as she glanced down too, her eyes widened as she looked at it, "it even looks better, what did you do too it?"

He shook his head slightly as they both watched as the last bits peeled off and the skin closed over and healed itself, the new skin underneath was pinkish red and shiny where it was still mending itself. In a few minutes Ichigo's arm had healed on its own, leaving only a wide, slightly shiny line that would fade in a few days. He bent down and held her arm gently, turning it this way and that to inspect every angle of where she had been cut.

"Ryou, what just happened?" a very confused Ichigo asked the blond as he straightened up.

"I'm not sure," he replied, a frown creasing his forehead, "but, I'll be running tests later, so don't let it worry you too much. It's not still hurting is it?"

"Nope, it feels as good as new." She replied smiling up at the still frowning Ryou. Her high spirits were slightly diminished as she voiced what had been worrying her, "Ryou, why are my powers back?"

Seeming to be at a total loss he shook his head, "I have no idea. The only thing I can think that would cause them to manifest is that there's some kind of threat." He sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly, "We're going to have to get hold of the others and see if their animal genes have been activated again."

Helping her off the high table, Ryou made absolute certain Ichigo wasn't about to fall over and still refused to let her walk up the stairs unaided. Ignoring her insisting comments about her being perfectly fine, Ichigo soon stopped when she realised she wasn't going sway the blond. He kept his arm firmly around her waist as the pair of them ascended the stairs to the deserted Cafe above. Their footfalls echoed around the silent cafe.

Ichigo was consciously aware of Ryou's body so close to hers, his bare arm that was snaked around her waist, the thin material of her tank top the only thing between her skin and his. She felt her face grow warm as she blushed slightly, hoping he didn't notice.

Moments later saw them sitting at the kitchen table, facing each other over large mugs of tea, each had a mobile against their ears talking rapidly. Snippets of conversation could be heard between pauses.

"....Yeah, they're back and we..."

"...possible for you to get back sooner?"

No sooner had they finished did they dial more numbers, a few more hurried conversations and they finally laid their mobiles down to drink their tea that had been getting steadily colder by the minute. That sat in a comfortable silence for a while, each deeply immersed in their own thoughts, quietly drinking their tea.

It occurred to Ichigo that this was something she had never been able to do with Massaya; sitting quietly in a comfortable silence together. What precious little silence there was, had always been slightly awkward for him. Massaya didn't often let it be that pleasant silence, he would never shut up about the planet. It was a noble cause, she didn't deny that, but really, it wasn't necessary or appropriate to talk about plants every second of the day.

Ichigo sat back on the comfy chair, enjoying the eerie stillness of the cafe with Ryou, until a loud, impatient knock came from the front of the cafe. "Coming" Ryou said as he rose to see who had arrived.

A gentle ting sounded as the door opened, knocking the small bell that hung over the door, and without having to listen carefully, the loud, more matured and less snobbish voice of Mint floated over the saloon doors of the kitchen towards Ichigo.

She stood up hurriedly to eagerly greet her long time friend; she rushed to the front, calling out, "Mint!" as she went. Ichigo had a brief glimpse of a petite blue haired girl in a summer dress before they each threw their arms around the other. They held each other for a moment before breaking away, smiling at each other.

Mint was slightly taller than she had been when Deep Blue was still around, but was still a head smaller then Ichigo, she had let her hair grow slightly longer and she wore it loose, voluminous waves spilled down her back with only a narrow band of white ribbon just behind her bangs, to keep her hair out of the way. She wore a white spaghetti strap dress that was covered in a black rose print and a shiny blue sash just under her bust tied with a bow in the middle and pale blue tulle peeked out the hem of the dress at the bottom. On her small feet she wore black pumps with a delicate blue bow on the top.

"I got here as fast as I could, I was so worried" Mint said looking anxiously at Ichigo before she turned to Ryou, "what happened? Are all of our powers going to come back?"

"We're still not sure ourselves Mint, we're gonna have to wait for the others before we can go into any major details, but we'll fill you in on the basics." He said smiling at her.

Nodding understandingly Mint followed the two back to the kitchen where she sat down next to Ichigo who launched into the story of what happened that morning as Ryou went to make her tea, smiling to himself, "_so much for waiting for the others_," he thought, chuckling quietly.

A few hours later saw all five girls sitting around the cramped round table. Mint, Zakuro, Lettuce and Pudding's stunned gazes flickered between Ichigo and Ryou as they told the rest of them what had transpired that morning after Ichigo left her house for university. Zakuro, as cool and collected as she was, could not keep the surprise off her elegant features as she sipped her tea, trying to hide it.

"So do you know what's caused Ichigo's powers to activate, Ryou?" Zakuro asked.

Keiichiro answered for him, saving the blond from answering the question he's answered no less than eight times that morning, each time saying it made him feel even worse, having not picked up on the problem sooner, "Not yet, it's still too soon to determine exactly what has caused them to manifest, but as we speak the computers are working as fast as they can. It could take days to be sure, there's a lot of data it has to sift through." The dark haired man stood with his arms crossed, leaning his tall, slender form against the counter. His hair as long as ever, and held together in a pony was currently slung forward over his shoulder. His chocolate eyes were narrowed ever so slightly, betraying his light tone and calm expression.

"However, What we do know, is that they wouldn't have come back were there not a crisis." Ryou added looking at each of the girls in turn.

They sat in silence, pondering for what seemed the hundredth time that day, what could possibly put Tokyo, or even perhaps on a highly uncomforting note, the world, in such a precarious situation, that the Mew Mews had to be called on again.

Ichigo glanced down at her mobile, the screen read 12:09, and she sighed and got wearily to her feet, "As much as I'd love to hang around and catch up, I really have to get going; I've got a ton of work to do. I'll check in tomorrow afternoon. One by one, the other girls stood as well, realising they also had things that had to be done and attended to and gone were the days they could spend an afternoon doing nothing but drinking tea and chat in the cafe, they said their goodbyes to the two men and made their way to the front door.

"Ichigo," Ryou said as he too stood up, "I'll drive you home, I don't want anything to happen to you and you're all alone."

"There's really no need," Ichigo began, but she was shot down as the others agreed with Ryou. Ichigo sighed, a small smile on her lips raising her hands in defeat, "Ok, Ok. I give up, Ryou can drive me home."

Walking Ichigo to his car Ryou opened the passenger door to his scarlet Camaro for her and shut the door gently once she was in, before climbing in by the driver's seat.

Leaning back into the comfy seat Ichigo sighed contently, before giving a short laugh, "Today sure has been interesting, wouldn't you say Ryou? Just when we all thought we were gonna have a normal life." She laughed again, looking at the city buildings flash by. Ryou said nothing and Ichigo looked sideways at him, "Hey," she said poking him gently on his leg, "don't look so serious." His glaze flickered to her and a shadow of a smile crossed his face, "That's a bit better." Ichigo turned her sights back to the window at her side, and looked out absentmindedly, humming a tuneless melody to herself.

"You know, you're taking this whole thing rather well, I'd have thought you'd be furious at the idea of having your powers back."

"Complaining about something isn't gonna make it any better," she said shrugging, "and my life was beginning to get a bit to quiet. ", she said as she looked at him and smiled. "And besides, I think it's what I was born to do.", she added thoughtfully.

"You do? How so?" he asked curiously sneaking a glance at her.

"Well, Mr. Shirogane apart from the five of us, how many people have you come across whose compatible to merge with animal DNA?" she asked smartly.

He laughed, taking his eyes off the road to steal another glance at her, "A very valid point, Ms Momomiya."

Still smiling, Ryou slowed to a stop outside Ichigo's neat double story house, taking careful note of the shut doors and windows, some still with the curtains drawn, "Isn't anyone home?" he asked puzzled, as Ichigo opened the door. Ryou knew Ichigo's father worked most of the day, but normally her slightly crazed mother was always bustling around the house.

"Hmm? Oh, my parents are on vacation, they should be back in a few weeks." She replied as she got out.

Ryou killed the engine, and climbed swiftly out the car, "You're staying here alone?" he asked sounding horrified.

Ichigo eyed the lithe blond as he moved with a slight pout on her rose bud lips, thinking how unfair it was that a man of such height could move so gracefully, if she tried getting out the car with half the speed he had, she'd probably have knocked herself out.

She looked at him over the roof of the car and grinned mischievously, "Yup," I have the whole house to myself!"

"Uh, Ichigo, it's not exactly safe you know."

"What are you talking about Ryou? I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself, especially now that my abilities are back." She said not looking at him, as she shut the red passenger door, and made her way to the gate.

"I mean, Tokyo isn't as safe as it once was, especially these past few months, even more so with your powers being back." He said walking with her.

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly, pressing the button of her remote, the gate responded, it shuddered before it began sliding open on its tracks, the little wheels clanking slightly.

"You know as well as I Ichigo, all the kirema animas were destroyed, you and the girl's hunted down every last one. Did you ever think what made the one that attacked you this morning, that if it was a kirema anima, where has it been hiding these last few years? Why out of the vast expanse of Tokyo did it appear right down the street of the former leader of the Mews?" He said, walking alongside her, "Ichigo, by now you must know that a chance like that is too great to merely be a coincidence." He hissed under his breath to her. He watched as she froze in her tracks, realisation dawning upon her and her face drained of colour. She turned her horrified gaze up to Ryou, "They know who I am." She whispered weakly.

"I think we shouldn't take chances. The possibility of whatever we are up against, knowing where and who you are is certainly very great," he sighed, taking gentle hold of her arm he steered Ichigo to the front door of her house. The wrought iron gate clanked shut behind them as they made their way up the neatly paved pathway.

Ichigo was very quiet as she unlocked her door and stepped inside, "I'm sorry Ichigo, I didn't mean to frighten you, I just," _just what? Just scare you into being more aware? Don't want some creepy who knows what slipping in unnoticed to steal you away from me?_ "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

Ichigo smiled weakly up at him, "It's alright, I know you mean well. Um, Ryou..." she broke off, refusing to lower her eyes and instead focused her gaze determinedly at his left shoulder and not his eyes, "would you, um, mind staying here with me then?"

* * *

Well there we are, let me know what you think :)

Thanks!

-Serenity


	3. Chapter 3

Allo allo everyone, so sorry about the delay, I've actually been finished with this chap for about two weeks but with Halloween around the corner, my outfit has been taking preference to everything!

But here it is at long last! :)

Chapter 3

* * *

'_Typical_,' She thought bleakly, '_so cliché'_. She was stupid not to have expected it. But how could she possibly have foreseen this? The supposed prince charming ditching his princess and now said princess was going to steal the heart of the prince that should be sweeping her off her feet.

But this was life, not some fairy tale Lettuce thought bitterly, and when had life ever worked out in her favour? Even that day, all those years ago where she had saved him from drowning, she had somehow found the courage to kiss him, all he had been able to murmur through his unconscious state was someone else's name, _her_ name; _Ichigo_.

It was one of the worst moments ever, his husky voice softy whispering that name, it had echoed in her mind, playing over and over taunting her, like some sadistic stuck record.

She laughed softly with no real humour in the laugh, they were so blatantly unaware of the others feelings, and apparently so were the rest of them. When everyone had started arriving, Ryou had been sitting opposite Ichigo, but somehow ended up sitting next to her, around the small and cramped table.

Did no one see their subtle, unconscious shifting towards each other, whenever they needed to adjust their seat? How their arms or hands always seemed to brush against each other, their gazes that met more than was normal? Then again, she doubted any one was as focused on Ryou as she was, she didn't openly stare at him, she was smarter than that, but she always kept him in the corner of her eye, catching every move he made.

Lettuce's almost flat heeled boots clicked on the sidewalk as she made her way to the library. Her long, deep green gypsy skirt fluttered around her legs as she strode irritably towards her destination. She shook her head, trying to clear away the infuriating thoughts, her single, wrist thick braid gently whipping side to side as she did so. And instead she tried to focus on the books in her arms instead as she made her way determinedly to her destination.

*

"I'll be right back Ichigo; it shouldn't take me long at all." Ryou said as he picked his keys up from the kitchen counter top in Ichigo's kitchen. Having agreed to stay indefinitely until her folks come back, Ryou had obviously shocked the poor girl more than intended. She even freaked out when he said he needed to leave her to get clothes. Ryou had assured her that he would be back, and he shouldn't be longer than half an hour. She reluctantly saw him out the front door and once his sleek car had disappeared around the corner she shut the wooden door with a gentle snap before locking it and heading upstairs to wash away whatever sweat and grime remained from this morning's incident.

Ichigo stepped lightly out the shower, a fluffy towel wrapped around her slim body and her wet feet leaving prints on the floor. She felt a million times better, the hot water had warmed and soothed her tired and slightly stiff muscles, and it had washed away the sweat and the last of the dead skin off her arm. But most importantly it had calmed her down, she no longer felt so hysterically paranoid. Ryou would be back soon and in the mean time, she had work to do and lunch to make.

Making her way to her room, Ichigo left a trail of damp prints that marked her route, pulling her long hair up into a pony as she went. Opening her cupboard she pulled out a pair of denim shorts and an old, slightly faded black tee. Letting her damp towel fall to the floor she stepped forward to pull her clean clothes on, her shirt had a rather large neck, slightly exposing one shoulder as it hung loosely.

Picking up the towel she headed back to the bathroom to throw it in the washing basket where her clothes from the morning already lay. She moved back to her room to tidy up, making sure everything was in its proper place, before going steadily through the rest of the house, ensuring all was clean.

*

Lettuce's foul mood had abated by the time she left the library late that afternoon, a new pile of books in hand. The still, calming air and presence of thousands of books always calmed her and lifted her spirit. She even hummed softly to herself as she made her way home, her feet leading her on the all too familiar route. The early evening wore on as she neared her home, the shadows lengthening and the sky dominated by a molten glow, casting an amber light on all that it touched. Glancing into the sky to get a quick look at the steadily changing horizon, Lettuce did a double take.

Up ahead to her right standing on the roof of an office block, was a colossal cat of some kind. But the creature wasn't alone; sitting astride it was a person.

Without warning the creature leapt off the building only to land lightly on its immense paws in the street, about 150 meters in front of Lettuce. It took people in the streets a few seconds to register what had happened but it was not long before people were screaming in terror, mothers clutched wailing children close to them, trying to sooth and hurry them out of danger whilst others ran or stood stock still, either frozen in their fear or to curious for their own good.

Many however bolted either in the opposite direction or into the nearby buildings. Not many had any desire to be near this creature that resembled a Kirema Anima, the mutated animals that plagued Tokyo just a few short years ago.

As it landed, Lettuce immediately noticed she was correct in assuming it was a feline creature, no other four legged animal had the sleek graceful structure of a cat. It was roughly the size of an African Elephant, its coat a glossy gunmetal grey colour, shimmered in the evening light. Bright cerulean eyes fixed on her, its tail flicked lazily to the side as it started down the street. It's rider was still too far to make out any features, though that slim build and long hair appeared to be that of a young woman.

There was no doubt about the creature's target as it trotted steadily towards her, its large paws not making a sound, a deep rumbling reverberating in its chest before a deep, guttural growl ripped through its open jaws.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, and muttering a curse under her breath, Lettuce dashed back, to run into a nearby alley, hoping in everyone's pandemonium nobody noticed her. Dumping her stuff down, she pulled out a small yellow and pink pendant, praying the thing was going to work as she kissed it lightly.

Her clothes evaporated, leaving behind instead Lettuce's emerald green Mew outfit. Matching knee high boots replaced her black ones and a garter on her left thigh, edged in lime green, whilst identical arm bands appeared on her upper arms. Her pendant now hung off a choker not unlike her arm bands, the same emerald green edged in a luscious lime. Her waist length green hair was pulled back into an intricate braid, tied at the end in a bow of white ribbon and long, white ribbons appeared to be part of her bangs, each arching up to curve gracefully to almost form a heart shape.

Hurrying out of the dark alley, Lettuce hoped no one had seen the green glow of her transformation. She turned right; to face the over sized panther which now stood considerably nearer and was coming closer every second. Lettuce was now able to see the person astride the panther was indeed female, a young woman in fact, probably a few years older than herself. She had semi long blood red locks that hung dead straight and reached mid back.

She was strikingly beautiful; she had a pale complexion, a slightly rounded face with a petite nose, dark full lips that contrasted strikingly with her pale features and a long slender neck and an air of haughtiness about her.

Her eyes were bright but dark, nearly the colour of coal and they stared contemptuously at Lettuce, and her narrow, black eyebrows arched angularly. Her bright red hair was split in a side path, her long bangs partly concealing her one eye.

In her right hand she carried a long staff, beautifully carved from some type of dark wood, engravings encircling the diameter just underneath the rough cut crimson crystal, roughly the size of her two fists together that was set in the top, her left hand resting casually on her thigh.

Seeing her, the feline increased its speed, coming at Lettuce in a steady lope.

Jade eyes narrowed beneath green bangs, as Lettuce summoned her castanets as she dashed closer to her target. "Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" a powerful jet of water surged towards the colossal feline that continued to race towards the attack and dodged out of its way at the last moment, missing the attack by a hair's breadth. Lettuce watched as the long fur of the panther rippled as the attack surged past.

Instead the attack hit a building, water splattering the walls before the torrent rained down on the tarmac below it, showering any who had remained outside to watch. The rumble that came from the chest of the storm coloured panther in response was similar to that of thunder as it bared its impossibly large fangs at Lettuce.

The crimson haired girl raised her staff and pointed it to Lettuce, its wine coloured orb emitting a strange pulsating glow.

Lettuce was flung backwards by some invisible force, her back scraping along the rough surface of the tar and she cried out as she slid to a painful halt. Lettuce struggled to her feet, gritting her teeth as the shallow scrapes on her exposed back burned. The creature was nearly upon her as she attacked again, this time her attack hit the panther squarely in the chest.

Beast and rider were thrown back, the girl landing lightly on her feet a short distance away from her mount which had landed spread eagled on its side.

"What the hell! Just who do think you are?" Lettuce demanded, her stance offensive holding her weapons poised.

The glossy coat of the panther was soaking wet and reflected the dark and dying light. It stood and shook itself off to try and rid most of the moisture before shifting its stance to an aggressive crouch, fangs bared.

Large claws, no longer retracted, were clicking loudly with each subtle movement, slight sparks appearing with the friction against the tar, whilst the crimson haired rider ignored her question and, smirking, pointed her staff at Lettuce, its red crystal beginning to pulsate once more.

Preparing to use her castanets to throw up a protective barrier, Lettuce was surprised when the girl halted. Without warning, the red head swung her staff up to stand vertically at her side as both she and the grey cat looked to the sky.

Following their gaze, it landed on the building from where they had leapt. Lettuce saw nothing; they appeared to be staring at something only they could see. Seeming to forget Lettuce, the girl said a few words, directed to her feline companion, in a strange language and the feline turned, breaking into a swift canter, its rider dashing alongside for a few strides keeping pace with ease, before vaulting effortlessly onto its back which stood a good 6 feet above her head.

Looking back over her shoulder the girl gave Lettuce a smirk, speaking for the first time, "The name's Ruby. See you around, Lettuce." Her voice was cold with an air of arrogance that matched her features.

Urging the cat forward with a few more words of the same strange language, the cat built up more speed before it leapt to the roof of the building it had alighted from earlier in one graceful and powerful movement. Where they stood the air in front of them appeared to ripple, before the girl and her pet walked through it, and disappeared.

Once she had gone, people began to appear in the street, most from inside buildings, but many had stayed outside just out of range, once they realised a Mew had arrived. Some cheered and clapped at her apparent victory, clearly thinking the girl had retreated out of fear.

Lettuce wasn't that ignorant, the girl, Ruby, had been called away or summoned by something. And only she had seen what it was. Ruby could have continued fighting, and by the brief spar they had, Lettuce gathered that it would have been she, herself, that would've come off worse.

Another worrying notion, Ruby had opened up a rift, not unlike the ones Kish used to use. Maybe her staff carried the ability, a remnant left behind by mistake by the aliens? Either that or she had learned it from somewhere, or someone.

Lettuce suppressed a shudder. As the people continued on their way, she managed to sneak back to her things by using back alleys and doubling back multiple times to ensure nobody saw her. It was a mission, but rather that than some idiot seeing her change.

Once she had changed back to normal and was on her way home once more, she reached for her phone. Lettuce's fingers moved over the number pads, dialling a number by memory. It rang for a few moments before the person answered.

"Hello?"

She smiled, already feeling better at hearing his voice, "Hi Ryou. Listen, I was just attacked by a Kirema, or something similar on my way home."

Worry crept audibly into his voice, "Are you alright? What...?" a loud clanking reached Lettuce's ears through the phone, like pots and pans being moved about, "one second Lettuce."

He pulled the phone away from his ear, "Ichigo, please could you try to keep it down." He asked.

Lettuce stiffened slightly, the hand clutching her phone tightened, her fingers hurting slightly from the pressure whilst the knuckles on her other hand whitened on the books she held.

He was with Ichigo, still with her, even though he dropped her off hours ago, and although Lettuce couldn't hear the voices on the other end of the line loudly, she was still able to hear every word with perfect clarity.

"Well unless you want us to starve, I have to get dinner ready."Ichigo retorted, sounding slightly irate.

He was at Ichigo's _house_ and she was making him, no, them, _dinner._

Ryou didn't reply to Ichigo, but spoke to Lettuce instead, "Sorry about that Lettuce, what happened? You said you were attacked?"

"Don't you shake your head at me, Ryou Shirogane, or I swear I'll hit you over the head with this frying pan!" Ichigo's yell came through loud and clear.

Lettuce relaxed and giggled slightly in spite of herself, she could well imagine Ryou's blond head shaking side to side, his locks swaying with the motion as Ichigo stood on the other side of the room, brandishing a frying pan at him.

And if baited enough, she would undoubtedly either hurl it at his head with lethal accuracy, or whack him right at the back of his blond head with it.

*

Ichigo stood with her left fist planted on her hip, whilst her other hand clutched a rather large frying pan and was waving it threateningly at the blond who sat at the kitchen counter. He held the hand that wasn't holding onto the mobile at his ear up in defeat, "Alright Ichigo, you win." He said smiling slightly.

Giving a very satisfied nod, Ichigo turned around, her attention going back to the stove.

"Sorry about that Lettuce," Ryou said to the mobile, shaking his head as he smiled watching the cat girl. Now that her back was turned he could shake his head without fear of being smacked upside the head.

Lettuce surprised even herself when she chuckled lightly, "It alright, I just wanted to let you know that there was a young girl with the...thing that attacked."

"A what?! Was she controlling it then?"

Hearing the ever so subtle change of the pitch of Ryou's voice, Ichigo picked up on the blonde's slight distress and turned round, watching him carefully. After a few moments he relaxed, "Ok, thanks Lettuce, I'll keep you updated. Cheers." He let out a deep breath as he slowly put his mobile down on the marble counter.

Looking up he saw Ichigo watching him intently, as if he were ill and needed to be mothered. He gave a small smile as he gazed at her, "It's alright," he said, "I think we've gotten our first real glimpse at what we're up against."

*

Ichigo's breathing was slow and steady as she lay on her left side, the duvet half off her slightly curled body as her eyes moved restlessly beneath their lids. Her left arm lay sprawled out beside her whilst her right rested lightly just under her chin, fingertips just covered by her pillow.

Without warning her body jerked as chocolate eyes snapped opened as she suddenly awoke. She groaned in irritation as she shut her eyes tightly, trying to will herself back to sleep. After a few moments she gave up. Ichigo reached out in the darkness to feel for her phone. Turning it over she saw the time, it was just after 3am.

"Shit, not again." She moaned into her pillow.

She sighed; she hadn't even been asleep for two hours before waking up again.

Throwing her duvet off her, she swung her feet out of bed and onto the cool floor, shivering pleasantly. She stood up, and blinked a few times, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. With the help of cat genes, her pupils dilated to an unnaturally large size to allow in more light increasing her eyesight tenfold. Under normal circumstances she would never have been able to see in the darkness of the room, now however, the room appeared to be dimly lit, as if by moonlight, everything painted with an indigo blue hue.

She padded lightly across her room, not making a sound as she crossed the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen on the balls of her feet, intent on getting a glass of water, and a sleeping pill if need be. Ichigo didn't bother turning the lights on, her eyes saw perfectly in the dim light provided by the sickle moon outside, whose shafts of light peeked through cracks of curtains.

The door of the fridge groaned loudly as she pulled it open as if protesting to her disturbing it so late. The bright yellow light was harsh on her sensitive eyes as it illuminated her pale body, clad in a pink tank top and a pair of matching shorts.

Ichigo immediately scrunched her eyes against the brightness as she felt for her object of desire. She grasped it, having managed to find it, and quickly shut the door to kill the yellow light.

Yawning widely she poured water into the stout glass she had grabbed from the cupboard before setting the jug down. A soft noise behind her cut her yawn short. Ichigo's breath caught and she tensed, prepared to attack and spun around to face whatever was behind her.

Ichigo gave a start; more at who was there, not what was there, for she had found herself nearly nose to nose with a very dishevelled looking Ryou.

She had momentarily forgotten she had asked Ryou to stay with her until her parents returned. His hair was a mess and in some places stuck up in an odd way. And in the current light it appeared to be made of molten silver that had solidified into individual strands of delicate hairs. Ichigo's hand twitched slightly before she stopped herself from reaching out to run her hands through it, desperate to feel what it would be like.

"Christ." She muttered, "Geez like Ryou, you nearly scared me to death." She said letting out the deep breath she had apparently been holding as her shoulders relaxed.

Her eyes travelled down to his bare torso, and Ichigo felt her breath hitch slightly, despite the pale light it could not hide the shadows on his chest, highlighting each and every well toned muscle. His build, although slim, was incredibly well built, and Ichigo found herself staring appreciatively.

The platinum haired boy blinked slowly down at her, trying to focus, clearly the poor guy had just woken up from a very deep sleep, "Ichigo?" she said slurring the word to nearly unrecognisable English.

'_Bugger_,' she thought, '_I've gone and woken the poor thing._'

"It's alright Ryou, I just came to get something to drink" she said soothingly.

He looked down at her as if she had just spoken Greek, his bright sapphire eyes seeming to glow in between his slow blinking.

'Come on honey,' she sighed, a little smile on her full lips, "let's put you back to sleep.' She said reaching out to gently take hold of his arm before steering him back to the stairs. Holding onto his arm she directed him up the stairs stopping him from tripping once or twice and when they reached the landing she gently pulled him the right way down the passage. By the time they had reached the spare room where Ryou was staying in, she had prevented him from walking into a wall no less than four times.

The moment she sat Ryou on his bed his eyes were already shut and Ichigo found herself laying the blond down and tucking him in. Pulling the sheets and duvet up to his chin and patting it around him affectionately, making sure no draft could enter. His breathing was already deep and slow, indicating that he had wasted no time in falling fast asleep.

Brushing a stray strand away from his eyes she looked fondly down at him and bent down to ever so gently brush her lips against his forehead, "Goodnight Ryou." She murmured. A contented sigh and a twitching at the corner of his lips was the reply she got.

Shaking her head slightly, she smiled before she turned and, without making a sound, left the room. Forgetting about her glass of water and sleeping tablet down stairs she crossed the hall to her room and when her head hit her puffy pillow just seconds later, it was only a few moments before she, herself, was fast asleep.

*

A hollow tapping noise echoed rhythmically around a near empty hallway. The source of the noise originated from the wide platform heels striding purposefully down the pale blue tiled corridor. Her high boots were white and reached her knee where beautifully pale, slender legs were visible before a deep blue pleated skirt covered her upper thighs. She wore a plain white, short sleeve button up shirt that hung un-tucked over her short skirt. Only the middle few buttons were fasted, her shirt hanging open at the bottom and the top, revealing the top of her bra and the dip between her breasts.

Blood red hair was pulled back into a neat pony that hung layered down the centre of Ruby's back, falling in the slightly unnatural way hair did when exposed to a straitening iron, and a few stray bangs fell over her face.

Every now and again she would pass be an ornate little table, bearing a fine porcelain vase or some other such expensive show piece. Their purpose was nothing more than to make vast hallway less empty more than to be actually admired, she herself had hardly paid any mind to them. The walls remained bare; their near white colour giving the illusion the hallway was brightly lit.

The corridor before her forked and she turned sharply to the left, proceeding down a much shorter, yet near identical hallway. After a few steeps she was faced with a door and without a moment's hesitation she turned the finely wrought handle and stepped inside.

Inside she was met with a room that stood in dramatic contrast to the pale, silent and near empty hallway; the room she now stood in was considerably darker and filled with noises and activity.

Before her, in a comfy looking swivel chair, sat a young man, His back was currently facing her as he was surrounded by several large projected screens; forming a half circle, with him in the middle.

What he was busy studying was beyond Ruby, she had no interest in technology, let alone the complex work he was currently occupied with. His hands typed rapidly on the keyboard before him and every now and then he would reach forward to touch the screen, select something, and drag it out of the way or move it over to another screen.

She strode up to stand beside him, one hand on her hip, and looked at one of the monitors, but not really focusing on what was displayed there, "I assume, Valkan, that the reason you called me away from my fight was to tell me you've made progress?" she asked, a slight chill in her voice.

He paused and leaned back, the chair reclining backwards, allowing him to look up at her, long white bangs falling out of his face as he grinned up at her, taking amusement from her irritation, "I've managed to fix the bonding issue."

Her irritation melted in a heartbeat and she looked down at him, a small but dark smile gracing her lips. She bent down and kissed deeply him before whispering in his ear, "We're almost there my love." Her lips moved back to his as her hands reached down to gently hold his face.

Ruby gasped slightly as strong hands grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her down into his lap, her legs straddling him. She laughed softly against his lips at the same time felt his lips smiling, before she continued to kiss him. His hands went immediately to her shirt and quickly undid the remaining few buttons.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 3!

As you might have noticed I made this chapter a bit longer :) which is another one of the reasons why it took me longer to update.

But I'm hoping you're enjoying the story so far and liked the brief glimpse into Ruby and Valkan's world :)

Oh! And I fixed the slight error on chap 1, so kindly pointed out by Judgmaster; I was very clever and switched to Zoey for a paragraph.

Let me know what you think! :)

-Serenity


	4. Chapter 4

Omg! I'm so sorry! I promise I didn't die or drop off the planet. Along with pc problems and a couple of other minor things like becoming a true blood junkie, a funeral and studying for my exams have all kept me away from writing much:)

Also something occurred to me a while back, that there was one minor detail I didn't write in my summary, although I don't really hate any character, you might have noticed I don't particularly like Lettuce very much. So if anything else happens that isn't exactly in her favour, don't say I didn't warn you all:)

So finally, here's chapter 4!

* * *

There was nothing, nothing but the vast expanse of darkness, pressing down on her from all sides, nearly suffocating her. There was no ground that she could see, only feel the hardness of it under her feet, no walls or obstacles visible in the darkness, but somehow, she knew there wouldn't be, or maybe she just prayed there weren't as she ran.

Running towards nothing, she had no real awareness of direction, it all looked and felt the same, she could be running in a complete circle for all she knew, but she had to try, she couldn't just sit and do nothing. She had to try, so she run, hoping she would find an end to the black abyss, calling out as she went, "Mom? Dad?" the only reply she got was the faint echo of her own cries, but there was no other answer. There was never an answer. She screamed out louder, causing her throat to burn and her lungs to protest from the volume of her cry.

There was no feel of time either, she could've been there for days or minutes, and she wouldn't have known which. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, not from the pain of her lungs and throat, but at being so alone in the eternal darkness. Her running slowed to a walk and she was near to giving up. She tilted her head back slightly and blinked the tears back, she refused to cry.

Without warning she was temporarily blinded by a flash of white light that flared from nothingness in the near distance. It only took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the new light source; it shone like an amber beacon, almost calling to her.

A spark of hope flickered within her as she raced forward towards it, each step she took the light grew larger as she neared her destination. As she reached it she was able to see what the light truly was and her blood ran cold as horror rapidly drowned out the fragment of hope.

Dimly she was aware of her legs that slowly folded beneath her and she sank slowly to her knees on the dark floor, before her roared a colossal fire consuming the manor. She could feel the dry heat on her skin, burning her slightly despite her being nearly thirty feet away.

One hand covered her mouth in disbelief, the other half reaching out to the crumbling manor.

Her family...there was no possible way they had survived that...the house was nearly raised to the ground...

In a few heartbeats the building had caved in and crumbled into a blazing pile of ash and rubble. All she had ever known, destroyed in moments, the only family she had had been burnt alive and buried.

Tears ran freely down her cheeks, trailing wet paths down her hot, dry face as she visibly shook from the sobs that racked her body. She moved her hands to cover her eyes, not wanting to see the smouldering carnage, but she couldn't drown out the crackling sounds of the dying fire.

She jumped when she heard a voice, she hadn't been aware of anyone approaching, or anyone else being here for that matter. She sniffed as she removed her hands, revealing her bloodshot eyes and slightly sooty face.

Before her stood a young boy and girl, probably around sixteen or seventeen, they were both tall, his hair looked like moonlight whilst hers was a bloody shade of red. She flinched slightly as the colour only made what just happened more vivid in her mind.

But she had a friendly face, and they both smiled kindly down at her. The girl bent down and offered a delicate hand to her, "It's alright honey, don't be scared. We're here to help you."

She took the hand and the red haired girl helped her gently to her feet before embracing her, soothing her as she held her close, stoking her near white hair, "it's alright, we're going to take you away from all this." She said softly before they took her away from the fire and death.

With a loud gasp Serenity sat bolt upright, waking abruptly from her all too vivid dream, her chest heaving up and ted in sheen of sweat as she looked wildly around her dark room. Her long dark hair was a mess from sleep and her sheets were crumpled and bunched in places in her restless sleep.

Beside her, Caleb stirred and woke groggily sitting upright. He looked around confused, his dark hair sticking up every which way, before turning his sights to her, "You alright babe?" he asked, despite his grogginess, the concern was evident in every word he spoke.

Not really trusting herself to say anything she nodded instead, knowing he would see, despite the dim lighting. She lay back down as he pulled the sheet and duvet properly over them. Once he was done, he too lay back down and she snuggled closer for comfort, his large arms encircling her small waist as she did so, and she let out a small sigh feeling more at ease. He kissed her hair and muttered a goodnight before he drifted off.

Sleep did not follow shortly, she lay awake for a long time but when it did, her dreams were undisturbed by the recurring flashbacks of her past, which were becoming more and more frequent. Instead a young boy with white blond hair flittered in and out of her dreams, always on the edge of sight. Whenever she turned to look at him, he vanished only to reappear out of the corner of her sight once more, she vaguely remembered him, but from where she could not say and she couldn't place the face. And when she tried to remember when she awoke, she could not picture his face at all.

Ichigo taped her foot lightly against the leg of her chair repeatedly, patiently waiting for Lettuce to arrive at the Cafe. Her arms were half crossed, her right arm over her chest, hand resting on her left arm, whilst her other hand fidgeted absent-mindedly with the cat charm around her neck, as she sat back in the comfy chair, quietly watching Mint and Zakuro talk softly to each other. Pudding was on her phone, her fingers moving at a rapid pace over the key pad, her homework lying forgotten in front of her. Ichigo smiled as she took note of the obvious change in the young girl. No longer the immature and hysterical young girl she once was, instead, she had blossomed into the beautiful fifteen year old that sat before her.

Ryou and Keiichiro were nowhere in sight, they were more than likely having a quiet discussion downstairs or in the kitchen.

Without warning the front door bell jingled cheerfully as the door swung open. Ichigo jumped slightly at the unexpected noise as her eyes shot to the door, to see the figure of Lettuce walking in.

Stalking would perhaps be a better description, and without looking at Ichigo, Lettuce sat down in a huff, grumbling out a barely audible, "Hey".

'_Someone's in a pissy mood_,' thought Ichigo, '_probably that time of the month or something, she's never this rude.'_

Ichigo shrugged the odd greeting off and replied with a, "Hi Lettuce." that was echoed by the other girls. The response Ichigo got was an icy glare before Lettuce looked away. It was such an unexpected reaction that for a moment Ichigo sat dumbstruck, blinking like an idiot, completely stunned by the hostility from the most unlikely of people.

Ichigo wasn't the only one to notice Lettuce's strange behaviour; Mint and Zakuro regarded her silently from the other side of the table, Mint's hand frozen in mid gesture, whilst Pudding just stared, seeming to forget the phone in her petite hands.

Regaining composure, Ichigo gave a small, "hmph" before shifting her seat slightly so that she sat taller and ignored the green haired girl entirely.

Mint and Zakuro watched Lettuce for a moment more before returning to their conversation. Pudding opened her mouth and in a rather timid voice asked, "Everything alright Lettuce?"

"I'm fine." She snapped back.

For the second time that morning Ichigo was struck dumb as she looked at Pudding, whose eyes shimmered slightly at the unusual hostile outburst.

Mint and Zakuro exchanged equal looks of 'what the hell is wrong with her' looks before shifting their cool gazes over at Lettuce who sat with her arms crossed glaring straight ahead, which thankfully was at the large vacant spot between Ichigo and Pudding. Zakuro, who sat closest to Pudding, reached out and placed her hand lightly on Pudding's arm and offered a small but comforting smile. Pudding looked up at the older girl, a small smile of gratitude on her lips.

Ichigo opened her mouth and closed it again. Although she would have liked nothing better at that moment to give Lettuce a good piece of her mind for her rudeness, she decided against it. Ichigo would confront her later, when it was just the two of them, four against one was a highly unfair situation to place someone in. Ichigo was still the leader, and that meant behaving like one, she couldn't reprimand someone in front of everybody else.

There was a definite air of unease after Lettuce's snippy reply, fortunately the girls didn't have to suffer long, in a few moments there was the all too familiar sound of footsteps echoing up the staircase from the basement that resounded in the empty cafe.

"Girls? Are you up here?" came Ryou's confused voice from the passage, a moment before his tall form filled the doorway. "Oh, you are here, for a second I wasn't sure, you were all so quiet."

He strode into the room and glanced at the girls seated at the round table, whether or not he noticed the tension between them, he neither said nor made any indication.

"Come on downstairs, we've got something to show you."

Unease or no, the girls stood up together with the scrapping of chair legs on tile and made their way across the room to follow Ryou into the hall, and down the flight of stairs.

When the girls emerged on the landing, they were greeted with the brightly lit lab and Keiichiro, who's back was currently towards them as he sat hunched forward slightly in front of a computer. He spun his chair around when he heard them approach, and it was evident he had had little or no sleep these last few days. His face was slightly sunken, his eyes rimmed with the dark bags and slight stubble was growing out. His mouth however was smiling, "Ah girls, good to see you, I have good news."

* * *

I know it's a lot shorter than normal, but I thought I better just upload it to get back into the writing scene :)

Will try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible:)

So, let me know what you think so far:)

-Serenity


End file.
